Wisconsin Republicans introduce transportation reform bill

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

Capitol in Madison

Wisconsin Republicans introduce transportation reform bill

Capitol in Madison

MADISON, Wis. — A group of Republican legislators is circulating a bill that would impose sweeping reforms on the state Department of Transportation.

The measure would repeal prevailing wage laws; allow municipalities to impose wheel taxes only through referendums; require local government approval for roundabouts; shift money for state highway repairs to local transportation assistance programs; and create an DOT inspector general. The bill also lays out alternative methods for delivering road projects, including having a single contractor handle all phases of a project.

The lawmakers who authored the bill said in a memo seeking co-sponsors Thursday that the agency needs reform after an audit earlier this year found it had been under-estimating the cost of highway projects by millions of dollars.